ROH Take No Prisoners opens in Philadelphia with several competitors in the
ring. Announcers Dave Prazak and Lenny Leonard welcome everyone to the PPV
and promise that we'll find out why the ROH athletes "Take No
Prisoners." A spotlight completely washed out their faces.
That's the type of thing ROH simply can't afford to happen as they try to win
over new fans who are accustomed to the production quality of TNA, WCW, WWE,
etc.

They announced the competitors in the ring would be competing for a ROH title
shot later that night. As each competitor was announced, they cut a quick
promo into the camera that was in the ring. This worked far better at
getting over the wrestlers' motivation than previous PPV graphic efforts.
It sort of reminded me of the old UK King of Sport British wrestling
episodes.

Claudio Castagnoli vs. Tyler Black vs. Go Shiozaki vs. Delirious

As they started the bout, ROH champ Nigel McGuinness joined Prazak and
Leonard on commentary, saying he doesn't need anyone any more because since he's
won the ROH title, everyone has turned on him and the fans boo him. He
said that even the fans that cheer him, he doesn't need, because they may care
about him Saturday night but they aren't there when he's in the ER on Sunday and
won't be there when he's 40.

Castagnoli and Delirious start off and go into a test of strength. They
do some back and forth armdrags. Castagnoli nailed a European
uppercut. Shiozaki and Black exchanged forearm strikes before Shiozaki
took down Black with a chop. Black returned with a dropkick and leg lariat
for a two count. Black charged Shiozaki but was caught in the corner and
tied to the tree of woe. He continued to assault him with chops in the
corner. Shiozaki rebounded off the ropes with a big knee strike, but Black
kicked up at two.

Shiozaki cinched in an abdominal stretch in the center of the ring.
Delirious and Claudio attempted to double team Shiozaki but was taken down with
a shoulder tackle. Black fakes out a dropkick, then nails a spinkick
to Shiozaki. Claudio tags in and he and Shiozaki exchange strikes and
chops. Claudio hit a springboard into a forearm strike for a two
count. Claudio went for the Ricola Bomb but was blocked. He grabs
Shiozaki with a double leg takdown and hits the big swing.

He bashes the dazed Shiozaki with a running uppercut, but Black breaks up the
two count. Shiozaki and Claudio both miss chops, but Shiozaki nails a chop
to the neck and a superkick for a two count. Delirious tags in and hits a
leaping lariat off the top onto Claudio. He rolls up Claudio and turns it
into a cobra stretch. Claudio escapes and nails an uppercut.
Delirious works over Claudio but Black blind tags in. Delirious avoids a
springboard move and sends him into the turnbuckles. Shiozaki lariated
Delirious. Claudio nailed a bicycle kick. Black struck him with a
leaping kick.

Delirious went to the top but Black recovered before he could hit the move
and hit a running boot to the face. Black nailed a Phoenix splash and
scored the pin.

Your winner, Tyler Black!

Black will challenge ROH champion Nigel McGuinness.

In the booth, Nigel McGuinness says he wasn't expecting Black to win, but
he'll take him out nonetheless.

A fun, athletic opener with lots of really good exchanges and moves.
The addition of the pre-match promos and Nigel in the announcer's booth did a
hell of a lot more to get over the character's motivation than some of the
previous PPV efforts.

A music video of ROH footage set to Ministry aired. I popped huge for
the musical selection.

In a breaking news segment, it was announced that due to his attack on ROH
officials on the last PPV, Takeshi Morishima is suspended from appearing on PPV
as a way to send competitors a message that they aren't allowed to touch the
officials. Pretty good cover story to explain Morisihima's absence since
he can't do jobs and won't be as available to the company since he's the GHC
champ now. They also reviewed the last ROH title changes for the Tag Team
belts, explaining that the Age of the Fall had captured the belts, only to lose
them to Davey Richards & Rocky Romero. They explained that the Vulture
Squad have emerged as the new top contenders.

Backstage, The Age of the Fall cut a promo from an undisclosed
location. Jimmy Jacobs, flanked by former WWE star Zach Gowen and Allyson
Wonderland says that tonight is the biggest night of Tyler Black's life but the
Age of the Fall is a movement and is more than just about wrestling. He
starts texting on his sidekick and the camera switches to Tyler Black, somewhere
in a pantry it appears, who is psyching himself up for his title shot as Lacey
texts Jacobs back. Necro Butcher and Joey Mercury congratulate Black.

Roderick Strong vs. Kevin Steen

The graphics explaining motivation are back and they are upgraded, another
good move. Steen and Strong slap and chop early. Steen mocks Strong
by chanting his name the way the fans do. They exchange shoulderblocks but
neither man goes down early. Strong snaps off a leg lariat to win that
back and forth, then begins chopping Steen in the corner.

Strong begins kicking and forearming Steen in the corner. Steen slams
Strong and nails an elbow to the back of the head. Steen hits a somersault
legdrop. They noted El Generico was on tour in Europe. Strong and
Steen exchanged stiff shots and forearms. Steen gets kneed in the
mid-section. Strong charges in the corner but is kicked in the
chest. Strong nails a big boot to Steen's head as he rebounds off the
ropes.

Strong locks on a Dragon Sleeper-style submission hold. Steen
gets out by grabbing Strong's face. He charges Strong in the corner but is
caught with a boot in the face and a missile dropkick. Strong locks on a
camel clutch. Strong nails a lariat in the corner, but meets an elbow when
he charges again. Steen hurls himself into Strong in the corner with a big
running splash, getting a two count.

Steen catches Roderick's legs as he attempts a kick and attempts a
sharpshooter but Strong grabs the ropes. Steen nails a DDT for a two
count. They battle back and forth until Strong nails a superplex for a two
count. Strong was selling his leg after the move. He went for a
Fireman's Carry but Steen escaped and nailed a powerbomb. Steen locked on
a Sharpshooter in the center of the ring.

Strong reaches the ropes and forces a break. Steen works over Strong
with chops and punches, then drills his knees into Strong. Steen goes for
a swanton but misses. Strong covers him for a two count. Steen
superkicks Strong, who shakes it off and nails a running boot to the face, but
Steen kicks up. Steen hits the package piledriver and scores the win.

Your winner, Kevin Steen!

Solid back and forth. They beat the crap out of each other.
Strong really reminds me of Ronnie Garvin.

In the unknown location, Jimmy Jacobs was holding court saying he was going
to effect change in society. Gowen and Wonderland were testifying to the
cause. Jacobs said they weren't waiting for a white knight, they were
taking the fight up for the cause. Jacobs got a text and said that the ROH
cameras had better go back to Philadelphia, because Necro and Joey just took the
fight to the Briscoes.

STREET FIGHT: The Briscoes vs. Joey Matthews & Necro Butcher

We see The Briscoes brawl through doors into the lobby of the Philadelphia
National Guard Armory with Necro Butcher and Joey Matthews. They brawl
into the Arena, knocking over a concession table. Necro nailed Mark with a
shovel, busting him open. in the back of the head Lacey and Daizee Haze
brawled in the crowd as well.

Necro throws Mark into the scaffolding set up for the ROH hard camera, then
whips him into a row of chairs. Jay and Joey brawled with chairs.
Mark hit a springboard off the guard rail into a dive on Necro in the
crowd. The blood was running down the side and back of his head and neck,
so it must have been a hardway shot that cut him.

Joey slams Jay's head into the guard rail. Necro tosses Mark into the
ringside area. Daizee nails Lacey with a chair. Necro slams a chair
into Mark's mid-section. They tied Jay up in the apron. Necro and
Mark peppered each other with punches in the ring. Joey attacked
Mark. Jay returned to the fight and all four battled in the ring.
The crowd chanted, "Man Up."

The Briscoes hit stereo superplexes. The brawl went back to the floor
as Daizee and Lacey rolled into the ring and continued their battle. Necro
nailed a backbreaker onto the guard rail on Mark. Lacey went for an
Implant DDT but Daizee reversed it and nailed a heart punch. She went for
a Yakuza Kick, but Lacey ducked and hit a German suplex.

Meanwhile back at the ranch, The Bricoes and the AOTF continued the
brawl. Jay and Necro returned to the ring. Necro began nailing right
hands and punches on Jay. Matthews wielded a chair as Necro peppered him
with punches. Matthews set the chair on the apron and Necro bulldogged Jay
onto it. Mark Briscoe pulled himself up onto the apron but was knocked off
by Matthews. They showed some nasty close-ups of the gash on the side of
his head. I think ROH is the only company left in the States that still
shows those bright bloody close-ups that hark back to the day of the old
Wrestling Magazines with the bug-eyed wrestlers.

Necro set up two chairs in the center of the ring and slammed Jay through
them. Matthews choked Jay with his own T-shirt. Jay began fighting
back and exchanged forearms by Joey. Mark was knocked off the apron again
by Necro. Jay finally took Joey then, down murdered Necro with a stiff
chairshot to the head. Jay tossed Mark the chair as he came off the top
rope, and Mark slammed it onto Necro as well.

The Briscoes double-teamed Matthews with chops in the corner. Matthews
had this great facial as the exhausted wrestler still putting up his dukes to
fight. It reminded me of Dick Murdoch. Mark nails a fistdrop off the
apron to the floor on Necro. Jay continued to beat and stomp Matthews in
the corner. Necro was draped on the corner of a table as Matthews was
backdropped over the ropes and landed on Necro, who was face-down. That
was different and dangerous.

The Briscoes set up Matthews for the Doomsday Device and nailed it.
Necro returned to the ring but Jay superkicked him. They went for the
Doomsday Device on Necro but Necro punched Mark in the face in mid-air, then hit
a victory roll for a two count.

They battle spilled back into the crowd. Jay clotheslined Necro over
the railing back into the crowd. Mark tossed Necro into the ringside
chairs and they brawled towards the back of the building. Mark nailed
Necro with a chair to the head. Inside the ring, Matthews set a table up
in the corner of the ring. He looked to be going for an exploder but Jay
fought him off. Matthews came back with a clothesline. Briscoe
nailed a death valley driver through the table.

Back outside, Mark scaled to the top of the ROH entrance set and dove off,
putting Necro through a table. Inside, Jay hit the Jay Driller on Matthews
and scored the pin.

Your winners, The Briscoes!

A really fun, gritty, bloody brawl. This was better than 90% of
the Extreme Rules matches WWE has produced since castrating ECW with blood,
stiff brawling, that old Fight Club feel of guys battling as the crowd swarms
around them and a sick dive. The only downside to all this is watching
Mark Briscoe killing himself. If he keeps it up at the pace he's going, I
can't imagine how he's going to have a career filled with longevity.
Still, an awesome brawl. Loved this.

Outside of the Arena, Tyler Black was alone preparing for his ROH title
shot.

They plugged the www.rohwrestling.com
website with clps of all the stars who have appeared in the past for the
company.

Backstage, they showed a close-up od Mark's gash. Jay Briscoe said that
was what "Take No Prisoners is all about."

Back inside the ring, Larry Sweeney, flanked by Bobby Dempsey, welcomed
everyone to the Larry Sweeney Show. How come the show doesn't get it's own
logo and graphics? Sweeney said he was declaring a hostile takeover of
ROH, but wasn't targeting management. He said he was focusing on the
wrestlers and wanted to sign the cream of the crop. He wanted the names
that would win all the titles, so he can "sell them up the river to
Vince."

Sweeney said he was signing talent from everywhere and called out his
guests. Out came The Hangmen 3 and Shane Hagadorn. Adam Pearce
and Hagardorn were all excited while the others didn't seem so sure.
Sweeney thanked Pearce for being there and told him to feel free to make the
announcement. He had Dempsey hand a bag (presumably of money) to Hagadorn.

Pearce told BJ Whitmer and Brent Albright that they were selling out to
become members of the Sweet N' Sour family. They didn't seem
impressed. Pearce tried to appease them as Sweeney gloated.

Erick Stevens came out and Sweeney told him that given time, he could buy
Stevens' contract as well, but not now. Stevens told him to shut up
because he wasn't there to sell out. He said that he challenged Daniel
Puder to a match (last PPV) but because of Sweeney, Puder was nowhere to be
found. Sweeney said Puder wouldn't be back until ROH agrees to
Sweeney's terms. Stevens said he was there for a match and wanted
one. Sweeney said he would give him a match and Albright attacked him.

Erick Stevens vs. Brent Albright

Stevens recovered from the attack and they brawled back and forth.
Albright dove off the top but was caught on Stevens' shoulders and slammed to
the canvas. They put over the mystery of what's in Adam Pearce's briefcase
- I still think it's the NWA title belt.

Albright went for a back suplex, but Stevens reversed. Albright finally
got the better of him and nailed a back suplex. Albright mauled Stevens in
the corner with rights. Stevens tried to kick his way out, but was dragged
from the corner and nailed with an elbow. Albright went for a facelock
into a suplex, but they went back and forth with reversals until Albright struck
with a wheelbarrow suplex for a near fall.

Albright nailed a snap suplex on Stevens. Albright charged with a
diving move but Stevens ducked and Albright snapped into the ropes.
Stevens dragged himself to his feet as the crowd chanted for him. He
started cleaning house on Albright, backdropping him. He came off the
turnbuckles with a flying shoulder tackle. He nailed a release German
suplex.

Stevens set up for the Choo Choo and charged into the corner on
Albright. Albright thumbed him in the eye but Stevens recovered and
avoided a big kick. Sweeney got on the apron and Stevens went after
him. The announcers noted that getting distracted cost Stevens a match at
the last PPV. Stevens had Albright pinned but Stevens put his foot on the
ropes. Stevens grabbed Sweeney but Albright caught him with an exploder
suplex from behind and scored the pin.

Your winner, Brent Albright!

The announcers said that the hostile takeover of the company had begun.

Another good match. There is never, never anything on the PPVs that you
just absolutely hate, but being able to tape and edit out anything that doesn't
work certainly helps that aspect.

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